Los Angeles is a city carved out of the desert – a conjured image of paradise. Award-winning journalist David Weinberg returns with stories of people who learn what lies beyond the dream.

Lost Notes is a podcast from KCRW. It's about music, and artistic legacy, and people. Listen to this episode about David Bowie's favorite rock band, Fanny. Then, go subscribe in your podcast player. See you soon for more Welcome to LA.

Architect Trevor Pan built his first building with his own hands in a barren patch of Arizona desert. It didn't have running water or electricity, but it got him some attention in the architecture world and his career was off to a promising start. But then Trevor made a decision that, from the outside, seemed completely insane.

Before he launched one of the most successful porn companies in America, Rob Navarro was a chart topping Christian rock star and the voice of Ronald McDonald. Then he got the help of a few good men from the U.S. Marine Corps.

Luis Gutierrez Sanchez, a hot dog street vendor also known as "Grace of the Sea," lived in a garage in South LA for six years. Miraculously good at finding beauty in dark places, he tells his story of surviving as a gay undocumented immigrant in Los Angeles.

Before Judge Judy there was "The People's Court" This is the origin story of the court case that started what is now a lucrative empire that feeds off the petty disputes of everyday Americans.

Tyreek Bilal has gone through many transformations in his life. He's been barber for powerful celebrities, a husband to six wives, a celibate religious scholar. Now he's taking a stand against changes at his neighborhood mosque.

When a suspicious couple and a former soap opera actress try to rent an apartment they offer to deposit the entire year's rent into the building owners bank account. But something wasn't adding up.

Kevin Gage played villains in Hollywood action movies of the mid-90s. But in 2003 he went to federal prison. He tried to start a new life in Mexico but Los Angeles sucked him back in. We find Gage in a new role at the Paradise Motel on Sunset Boulevard.

Host David Weinberg moves to Los Angeles and on his first day in town ends up on a yacht, attending a birthday party for a Russian theremin builder. But the pleasure cruise turns disastrous and they have to be rescued by boat police.